Harrassment
by Lacey99
Summary: Mac works on a difficult case..


The story is set somewhere in season 10

Harassment

Harm watched as Mac walked past him and straight for her office. He walked after her and had to smile when he found her sitting in her chair, her forehead against the desk and her hands covering the back of her head. He touched the small object in his pocket and his smile widened.

Harm stepped into her office. "The meeting didn't go well?"

"Not at all," she mumbled without moving from her current position.

"Anything I can do to help?" He offered.

Her hands left the back of her head and she lifted her head to look at him. "I doubt it."

"Come on Mac, talk to me." Harm gave her a pleading look. "I'm sure I can help."

Mac gave him a pout. "I'm a woman."

Harm wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "And that's a problem because?"

"My client is a two star General who's charged of sexual harassment of a female officer under his command." Mac explained.

"Did he harass you?" Harm stood a little taller.

"No" Mac stood. "General or not, I would have decked him."

"Somehow I believe you." Harm stepped a little closer to her desk. "What's the problem then?"

Mac shrugged her shoulders. "He's convinced that he didn't do anything wrong. Then he proceeded to tell me about what women's role in the military should be."

"And what should it be?" Harm wondered.

"Non existent." Mac gave him a defeated look. "I told him that with an attitude like that he would lose in court, but it went in one ear and right out the other." She slumped down in her chair again. "I think he knows that his career is over, but he wants his day in court. He said something about never giving up a fight and he wasn't about to start now."

"Maybe it's a good thing."

Mac gave him a stern look. "What?"

"It'll take the case to the media, that way others who thinks like him will have to rethink their attitudes. Let's face it, this new military has come a long way with sexual harassment, but it still exists. As lawyers we see it more often than most men and women who serve, but it's there and we should take every opportunity to shine light on it." Harm smiled. "Don't you agree?"

Mac studied him for a while. "Maybe you're right."

"As a woman I would think you'd be very interested in this subject." Harm pointed out.

"As a woman?" Mac questioned.

Harm nodded. "Yes, I'm sure you've had your share of unpleasant incidents. What did you do? Ignored it? Reported it?"

"Confronted it." Mac leaned back in her chair. "I guess I've never been afraid to stand up for myself."

"Not all women are brave enough to talk about sexual harassment, especially if they've been harassed by a senior officer. It's not easy to stand up to someone of a higher rank and ask them to back off." Harm searched Mac's face. "Were you always as strong as you are now?"

Mac hesitated. "Uncle Matt told me to never let anyone disrespect me because of my gender. He always said to act like a man, but think like a woman. He said; Sarah, you are smarter than them, but never rub their noses in it. Fight for what you believe, but be humble and admit it when you're wrong. Whenever a fellow Marine or a superior officer treated me unfairly or with disrespect, I'd always remember Uncle Matt's words."

"He thought you well." Harm smiled.

Mac nodded. "Yeah."

"What's the worst harassment you've been subject to?" Harm asked.

"I haven't been subject to any serious stuff really. I think I've been very good at ignoring different comments. "Mac snorted. "There was this one time in boot camp though. All my clothes, except from the underwear, were removed from the locker room while I was in the shower. I was there alone at the time and I couldn't borrow clothes from anyone."

"What did you do?"

"I had a pretty good idea of who it was. I had the best shooting scores in my squadron and one of the guys didn't take it too well when I beat him. I knew he was plotting his revenge and I knew he would want to see my reaction to his prank. I walked out of there, in my underwear, and he and some other guys were standing outside smiling like crazy. He asked me if I was missing something and pointed to my clothes in a pile on the floor in front of him. I swear to God I've never been more angry in my life." Mac chuckled lightly. "I walked up to him and decked him. Grabbed my clothes and walked away."

Harm was laughing by the time she finished. "You walked outside in your underwear?"

"I wasn't thinking." Mac said between waves of laughter. "When I had finished dressing I walked out of the locker room and came face to face with our drill instructor." Mac sobered up a little. "I was prepared for some serious yelling and to be kicked out of boot camp. Instead he made my whole squadron stand at attention for an hour while he talked about team work."

"Did the guy ever apologise?" Harm wondered.

Mac nodded. "He did and we actually became good friends. We were both squad leaders."

"You are something else, Mac," Harm said as he prepared to leave her office.

"You're right about taking the case to court."

Harm gave her a wink and a smile. "Let me know if you need my help."

"I will. Thanks, Harm" Mac gave him a thankful smile.

Harm smiled back. "Any time."

A week later

JAG Headquarters

Harm stood in the bullpen and watched the screen with many of his colleagues.

"Colonel Mackenzie, you lost this case and your client was dishonourably discharged. As a female, was it hard to be on the General's side in this case?"

"Well, Miss Watson, when I step into this uniform I'm no longer a woman, I'm a JAG officer who follow orders. My job was to defend my client to the best of my abilities."

"But it has to provoke you to be defending someone who forced himself on a female Marine and who stands up in court and defends his actions?"

"Sexual harassment should always be taken seriously and I hope this case can be an example of how the Military in general handles harassment. It is taken seriously and there will be repercussions for those who commit such crimes."

"So you think of harassment as a crime?"

"There will always be different levels of harassment, but yes I really do."

"There are many stories out there about female victims of sexual harassment who hasn't been taken seriously and who have been ignored when they have spoken up about it. Do you believe that there are women out there who won't file charges because they are afraid they won't be taken seriously?"

"I do."

"What can we do about that?"

"It's hard for me to stand here with a clear solution to that, but as a good friend of mine pointed out, if women and men who's been subject to harassment continue to come forward and we can successfully punish the harasser, it will continue to shine light on the fact that these things happen."

"Your faith is in the legal system?"

"Absolutely. I can't change the entire world, but I can at least try to improve my little corner of it. Now, if you'll excuse me." Mac pushed past the reporters.

Harm smiled from his spot in the bullpen. "That's my girl."

"The colonel is right. We can't change the entire world, but it's nice to be able to improve the things we can." General Cresswell said.

"It sure is, sir."

"But sexual harassment, or harassment in general, will continue to be a grey area. Let's just hope we made a difference today and that someone learned something." The General smiled. "Sometimes I love this job."

"Yes, sir." Harm agreed.

Later that night

Harm's apartment

Harm had asked Mac to join him for dinner, and they had just finished dessert and were now cleaning up. Harm loved these quiet moments with Mac, they were rare since they both led busy lives, but they always made an effort to spend the time they could together. They had been dating for six months now, and for Harm it had been the best six months of his life. He was happy to see that Mac seemed very satisfied with their relationship as well, he had never seen her so content and joyful before. His hand found its way into his pocket and touched the small object he'd carried with him for weeks now, just waiting for the perfect moment to give it to her.

"What are you thinking about?"

Harm focused on Mac. "What?"

"What are you thinking about?" Mac gave him a curious look. "You were staring at me."

Harm grinned at her. "Just thinking about you, beautiful." He moved closer to her. "Are you happy?"

"Yes." Mac still searched him with curiosity. "Why?"

"You seem happy." Harm leaned in and kissed her. "I like to think that I have something to do about that."

Mac put her arms around his neck. "You do." She smiled warmly. "These past six months have been wonderful."

"No regrets?" Harm wondered as he put his face real close to hers.

"I would have preferred it if we got together a long time ago, but other than that I'm very pleased." Mac murmured against his mouth.

Harm released her suddenly. "That's good to hear." He walked a few feet away from her before turning around and staring at her face. He looked nervous all of a sudden. "You did a great job on the harassment case, Mac."

Mac was confused. "Okay, thank you." She noticed that Harm's attention wasn't on her any more, instead he was staring out the window. "Harm?"

"Yeah?" He focused on her again.

"What's up with you?" Mac stepped closer to him. "You're acting very strange."

Harm shrugged it off. "Me? No, I'm fine." He tried to smile reassuringly, but failed miserably.

"Harm, are you nervous about something?" She touched his arm lightly. "You jumped from talking about our relationship and into complimenting me about the case, you seem very keyed up."

"I just wanted you to know that I think you did great. You're very smart and talented and beautiful, Mac." Harm rambled on as if he had something to say, but couldn't quite find a way to work it into the conversation.

Mac nodded. "And I'm grateful that you're complimenting me, but I can see that you don't want to talk about my case, there's something else on your mind."

"I guess you're right." He took a deep breath. "I had rehearsed this conversation, but I seem to have forgotten what to say." He looked confused. "I think I'll just use the direct approach." He shook his head in frustration. "I don't know why I'm so nervous about this."

It dawned on Mac what was about to happen and she started laughing. Harm looked confused by her laughter, then he started laughing too.

"I'm being stupid, right?" He said as their laughter ended.

"No." Mac shook her head. "It's cute."

Harm smiled shyly. "You're amazing, Mac. You're so strong and competent and I'm lucky to have you in my life. I don't know what I'd ever do without you and I hope I'll never have to find out. Marry me?"

Mac nodded. "Yes, I will marry you."

Harm leaned in and kissed her, slipping the ring on her finger as he did.

Mac ended their kiss and lifted her hand to study the ring. "It's beautiful."

"You're beautiful." Harm responded as his mouth found hers again.

The End.


End file.
